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For a friendly boy from Fort Wayne, IN, Lou Curdes sure had plenty of fight in him. He fought with the Italians, he fought with the Germans, and he fought with the Japanese. As a fighter pilot in WWII, Captain Lou moved from battlefront to battle front, flying “Bad Angel,” his P-51 Mustang long-range fighter into the thick of battle. Captain Lou quickly racked up a few distinctions; first he earned the title “Flying Ace,” by shooting down five enemy planes, then he became one of only three pilots to shoot down at least one plane from each of the Axis nations; Germany, Italy, and Japan. But his most unusual distinction is that he was the only US pilot in history to earn a Distinguished Flying Cross medal for shooting down an American plane. In a sense, he was the only pilot to ever be rewarded for shooting down German, Italian, Japanese and American planes.
(In the war, pilots would paint on the side of their planes a flag or emblem for each aircraft they took down. See the photo above of Captain Lou Curdes in his P-51 Mustang, with seven swastikas for the seven German Messerschmitt Bf 109s he took out, one Italian three-wing roundel for the Italian Macchi C.202 he downed, one rising sun emblem for the Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46 he sent for a swim, and one US flag for the American Douglas C-47 Skytrain he downed.)
So why was a US pilot celebrated for opening fire on an American plane and sending it and the twelve people on board into the Pacific Ocean?
In early 1945, the US was engaged in fierce warfare with the Japanese in the Pacific Theater of WWII. The South China Sea, where all the action was taking place, is riddled with tens of thousands of islands, and many of them were in Japanese hands. The US generally had air superiority, but the Japanese were deeply entrenched on the ground, often digging huge tunnel complexes beneath the ground and using them to attack any US ground troops that tried to set foot on their islands. The Japs would attack suddenly and then almost “vanish into the ground.”
The US used its air superiority to try to starve out the Japanese troops, bombing airfields, supply depots, fuel tanks, anti-aircraft installations and anything else that was above ground. On the morning of Feb 10, 1945, Captain Lou Curdes led a mission of four P-51 Mustangs, leaving their base in Luzon, the largest and most populated island in the Phillipines, northward toward Formosa (Taiwan) to see if they could find any Japanese installations to take out, and by afternoon they were heading back from a relatively uneventful day.
Their commanding officer, General George C. Kenney, asked them to check out the Batanes islands, a small group of islands midway between Taiwan and the Phillipines, on their way back and see if they could find anything there. The four planes split into pairs and were scanning the islands when one of them caught sight of an airfield that looked distinctively Japanese. They circled closer when suddenly anti-aircraft fire erupted from the airfield. One of the American planes was hit and it’s pilot, Lieutenant La Croix caught a bullet in the leg. He flew out to sea to get as far from the Japanese as possible and then ejected out of his airplane seconds before it splashed down in the Pacific.
La Croix’s parachute backpack had an inflatable raft in it, and as soon as he hit the water he inflated it, and soon he was floating in the water, injured but safe. Captain Lou instructed the other two planes to go back to base to get additional help including an amphibious plane that could land in the ocean and pick up La Croix, and in the meantime he circled above La Croix’s raft making sure no Japanese came to pay him a visit.
About an hour later Lou saw a plane in the distance, but it didn’t look like a fighter plane, it was a cargo plane. Even stranger, it was a US cargo plane, a Douglas C-47, and it was over 150 miles from any US presence! Lou approached cautiously to make sure it was actually in US control, and indeed it had the US Air Force Insignia on its side, but it was heading toward the Batanes airfield which was in Japanese hands! Lou repeatedly reached out by radio to tell the cargo plane not to land in Batanes, where everyone on board would be instantly massacred by the Japanese ground troops, but he received no response.
Lou then took maneuvers to try force the cargo pilot to change course, but every time he tried, they just turned and headed back toward Batanes. It turned out that the cargo plane was separated from its fleet during some terrible storms that also knocked out their navigation and radio instruments, and now they had no idea where they were, they had almost no fuel and they were determined to land anywhere they could, not realizing that the Pacific Ocean is a far more friendly place to land than a Japanese airfield.
With no other choice, Captain Lou Curdes, took his “Bad Angel” and got behind the cargo plane. Carefully, he opened fire and shredded one of its engines, then he swung around and did the same to the other engine. With no engines left, but the wings fully intact, the C-47 glided gracefully downward, landing in the Pacific. Moments later, the door opened and two inflatable rafts were thrown out, and the twelve crew members climbed into the rafts. Lou kept circling above, now guarding three rafts, the two from the cargo plane and La Croix’s and eventually help showed up, everyone was saved, and Lou headed back to his base.
Shortly after, General George Kenney awarded Captain Lou with the Distinguished Flying Cross for taking down an American plane and saving the lives of the twelve people on board, and he became the only Flying Ace in history awarded for taking out an American Plane.
Now imagine you were one of the people aboard the C-47 as Lou started shooting at it. You would have no way of understanding why an American pilot is shooting you out of the sky. You would be sure that he is a traitor and the worst American ever! In reality, he was saving your life, but you don’t know it because you don’t have a wide enough lens, to see everything he sees. He sees that you were flying into certain death, and he is doing everything he can to save you. What you thought was the height of evil was actually the apex of mercy and compassion.
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One of the most important declarations a Jew ever makes, is "Shema Yisrael Ha-shem Elokeinu Hashem Echad." We are supposed to teach our toddlers to say this as their first statement, and it is the last declaration a Jew should make before he returns his soul to its Maker. Jews have used this verse as a code to identify each other in times of oppression, and as inspiration in times of war and peace.
It was the last words uttered by Rabbi Akiva as the Romans tortured him to death for the crime of teaching Torah thousands of years ago, the last words of millions of Jews who gave their souls back to Hashem in the Holocaust, but also the words we say intently during our prayer services and before we go to bed. Why is it such an important statement, and what exactly does it mean? "Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God, Ha-shem is one!" is the literal translation, but even that is an enigma, why not just say, “Hear O Israel, our G-d is One!” There must be enormous depth to this seemingly simple testimonial.
Hashem has many names. He is called Hashem, Elokim, Shakai, Shechina, and Tzvakos among many other names. The reason Hashem has different names is because each one represents a different aspect of His Being. We can’t see or touch Hashem, so the best we can do is describe Him through His attributes. The Medrash (Shmos Rabbah 3:6) quotes Hashem telling this to Moshe directly:
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe: "Are you asking to know My Name? I am called according to My deeds. At times I am called El Shakai, Tzevakos, Elokim, or Hashem (YKVH). When I judge My creations, I am called Elohim.When I wage war against the wicked, I am called Tzevaos. When I withhold punishment for a person's sins, I am called El Shakai. And when I show mercy to My world, I am called Hashem, for the Name Hashem represents nothing other than the attribute of mercy."
So now we know why Hashem has so many names, but that still doesn’t explain the Shema statement or its centrality in Jewish life, so let’s keep going. Theodicy is the name given to what is possibly the most perplexing philosophical challenge facing the thinking man; why do bad things happen to good people. Untold number of books have been written, and millions of hours of discussion have been spent, grappling with the issue of theodicy. Every great philosopher known to mankind has dealt with it. It is even the one question that Moshe asks Hashem to explain,and Hashem refuses. Even within Judaism, there is not a monolithic response, many classical commentators present different angles and responses with which to understand theodicy. The task of explaining theodicy fell upon me, in a most challenging manner.
Many years ago, my wife had the great honor and privilege to work as a nurse in Camp Simcha Special. It is an amazing place, where children with a wide range of chronic illnesses and sometimes terminal illnesses could come together and be given the most joyous experience imaginable. One of the most common illnesses found there was familial dysautonomia, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that has no cure, which makes life extremely difficult, painful, and tragically short.
At Camp Simcha Special, I was asked to lead the Torah learning groups for the teenage boys, and happily obliged. The boys were mature far beyond their years, and learning with them was satisfying and enlightening. At the end of one of the sessions, I asked if there was any topic the boys wanted me to discuss during the following session. One boys, who had familial dysautonomia, said, "I want you to tell us why Hashem created FD." That is the epitome of theodicy.
After many hours of preparation, and discussions with Rabbis far wiser and more experienced than myself, I nervously approached the next day’s class. I brought with me a wide variety of answers because these deeply mature boys, who faced challenges far beyond what we can comprehend, needed a diverse set of answers, this was not a one-answer-fit-all type of group.
But before we started working through the various responses, we started with what is known as the Tapestry Theory, which is really the most valid answer. If one would look at the back of a beautiful woven tapestry, all they would see is chaos - thousands of pieces of string crossing over each other with no apparent system or order. No one would be able to understand why someone would make something so ugly and disordered (then again, today many people wouldn't blink, they would just think it is modern art). But if they were to simply walk around and see the tapestry from the front, they would suddenly find their breath taken away by the intricate beauty.
The same is true with theodicy. While we are here on this side of the tapestry, in Olam Hazeh, This World, where Divine Truth is hidden, we look at all the pain and suffering in the world, we look at all the chaos, and say “how can there be a G-d?” But when we are above the tapestry, when we pass into the World to Come, known Kabalistically as the Olam Haemess, the World of Truth, we can suddenly see that everything had a reason, that every single strand and loop was necessary to bring out the gorgeous tapestry of this world, and our people.
This is essentially what Hashem told Moshe, “Ki lo yirani ha’adam vichay, a living person can’t see Me”, While alive we can’t understand Hashem, but in the next world, on top of the tapestry we will understand everything. (Another example of the Tapestry Theory is a child's bewilderment at being punished by a parent. He can’t understand why a parent who loves him would punish them, until he too becomes a parent and realizes that the “cruelty” was fueled by love.)
If theodicy is the biggest question of faith, then the most fundamental belief of a Jew is that G-d is purely good, and even if we can't see it right now, one day we will. This explains the Shema statement. "Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad" can be read as follows "Hear O Israel, Ha-shem (the name relating to apparent mercy) Elokeinu (the name relating to apparent justice and discipline) Hashem Echad (there is really only one Hashem, the G-d of Mercy)! A Jew makes that declaration multiple times every single day, to drive this most important message into our souls. And when a Jew makes that declaration even when facing death, that is the ultimate returning of his soul in a state of complete faith.
To us it may appear that at times G-d is clipping our wings, shooting out our engines, forcing us into the ocean, or destroying every thing that is holding us up. But in reality, He may just be saving us from some future disaster that is far worse, but we simply can’t see it because we don’t have a wide enough lens, or the right instruments. We won’t know the full picture until we get back to base, heaven, but the proud statement of the Jewish people has always been our affirmation of this truth, that everything Hashem does is kulo tov, only the Heavenly Merciful Good.
Parsha Dvar Torah
In the beginning of this week's portion we read about how Eisov (Esau) sold his rights as the firstborn to his brother for a meal of beans. (Now there’s a guy who either really likes beans, or really doesn't care about the rights of the firstborn, which include service in the Temple!) Let us look at the verses surrounding this monumental sale, and see what we can learn from it.
Yaakov was simmering a pottage when Eisov came in from the field, exhausted. Eisov said to Yaakov, "Please give me a swallow of this red [pottage], for I am exhausted." He was therefore named Edom [Red]. Yaakov said, "As of this day, sell your birthright to me." Eisov said, "Here I am about to die, what [good] is this birthright to me." Yaakov said, "Swear to me as of this day." He swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yaakov. Yaakov then gave Eisov bread and a pottage of lentils. He [Eisov] ate and drank, got up and left. [Thus] Eisov scorned the birthright. (Gen. 25:29-34)
As we can see, Eisov had no respect for the birthright and it was Yaakov the brother who did care for it that really deserved it anyway. (Mini lesson- If you don't appreciate the gifts you get, you don't deserve them.) But what we need to put the magnifying glass on, is the idea that the nation that came out of Eisov acquired their name through this event, and a strange name at that.
In the Holy Tongue (Biblical Hebrew) a person's name represents the essence of what they are. The word for name sheim is spelled exactly the same way as sham, which means there, because a person's name tells you where they are. For example, Avraham is called Avraham because it is an acronym for Av Hamon Goyim, Father of Many Nations, which he was as he fathered the Jews, and the Arabs (through Yishmael, his other son, the one we don't invite to our Chanukah parties), and spiritually he was a patriarch to the world.
That being the case, how do we understand that Edom, the nation that came out of Eisov got their name from him asking for red beans? If Yaakov was making a split pea soup instead of red lentils, would the nation now be called Green? And maybe they should have been called Lentils because the pottage was a lentil pottage.
The reason Eisov's nation was called Edom, red, is because that is the way he described the pottage when he saw it as it says "Please give me a swallow of this red [pottage], for I am exhausted." He was therefore named Edom [Red]. What does that tell us about Eisov?
It tells us that he looked at things very superficially. He comes in and glances at a pot, and simply asks for some of the red stuff. He doesn't even take the time to ascertain what it is. The color of something is the factor that one sees first, but reveals the least info about the identity of something. If Eisov would have been less superficial, less concerned with immediate gratification, he might have asked for some of the lentils or perhaps some of the nourishing food. But Eisov is the kind of person that doesn't care for any delay in gratification, so he blurts out a request for the most surface aspect of the dish, in his rush for gratification.
This theme continues as he sells his rights as a firstborn, which would have given his progeny the rights to serve in the Temple, so that he can satiate his hunger. Imagine, if he would have simply waited and gone into the kitchen and made himself a grilled cheese sandwich, his children would possibly have been the ones who served in the different Temples for hundreds of years instead of us, Yaakov's children! But that is not who Eisov is, as he says "Here I am about to die, what [good] is this birthright to me." I.e. if I can't get some immediate pleasure out of it, I'll just trade it in for something I can enjoy right now! (This is also possibly why Eisov was born fully formed, which is how he got the name Eisov which means "made." This showed that his core is something that expects everything all at once. Jacob was born normal which indicated that for him development was a necessary process.)
This character of Eisov of only looking at the superficial explains the name Edom, and how it represents the essence of Eisov the forebear of that nation. This is the exact opposite of Yaakov, who is willing to give up some of the lentils now in return for greatness in the future. We are the Children of Yaakov, we have inherited his spiritual genes, and therefore we have the ability to spurn the momentary pleasures of this world, in an attempt to build better character for our future, and for a glorious next world. In each of our lives we have a pottage that is red, enticing, and ready to deliver instant gratification, but we overcome the Edom in us, we spurn the momentary and choose the eternal.
Parsha Summary
The Parsha begins with Yitzchak and his wife Rivka, praying fervently for a child as they didn't have one in twenty years of marriage. G-d grants them their wish and grants them twins. One of them is great and every time Rivka passes a Yeshiva he kicks indicating that he wants to learn. However, when she passes an idolatrous temple, the other guy is kicking away! This confuses Rivka, who didn't know she had twins, so she goes to ask two scholars, Shem and Aver. They, through Divine Knowledge explain to her that she has two babies in her womb, both of who will be the father of great nations. They further tell her that there will be an inverse relationship between them, with one gaining power when the other loses it.
Soon two babies are born. The first comes out fully formed, and with a hairy coat of reddish hair, and he is called Eisov, which means "made." His brother comes out holding onto the heel of his twin, and he earns the name Yaakov, which alludes to the heel he was pulling out in his attempt to get out first.
The twins as kids are pretty similar as babies (you know how it is with babies, they all look and act the same! They cry, dirty their diapers, and eat!) But when they get older, it becomes painfully obvious that these fellas couldn't be farther apart. One spends his time learning in the tents, and one goes of hunting and robbing people in a way that would only make Ted Nugent proud. On the day they turn thirteen, Avraham dies right before his grandson, Eisov has his debut as All-Mesopotamian Bad Guy, as he spends his Bar Mitzvah committing all three of the Big Three sins, Adultery, Idolatry, and Homicide.
Arriving home from a day of high crimes, Eisov is famished and finds Yaakov cooking a lentil dish for his fathers (mourners are supposed to eat round things to remember that life is a cycle, and although they are in a down right now, things will turn up again). Eisov sells his birthright to his brother for a bowl of beans that was poured into his mouth and some bread, thus showing that he has zero appreciation for the finer things in life such as a fork and spirituality (the birthright is primarily a spiritual function as it designated who was supposed to serve in the Temple).
Then there is a famine in the Land of Israel and Yitzchak and his wife must go to Gerar to live amongst the Pilishtim, where food is abundant. Using a trick he learned from his father, Yitzchak tells his wife Rivka to tell everyone that she is his sister, to avoid getting killed by someone trying to steal his wife. When Avimelech, the King of Gerar finds out that they are actually married, he scolds Yitzchak, saying that one of the nation (himself) almost took Rivka as a wife, and then asks them to leave town. They pack up and move to the neighboring valley, where they successfully dig up some wells that Avraham's servants dug when Avraham was there. There are a number of fights between the local servants and Yitzchak's servants over the wells, until finally they come to an agreement regarding one of the wells on which they made a treaty, and it was named Be'er Sheva.
Yitzchak has enormous agricultural success producing 100 times the amount his fields were assessed to produce, and eventually realizing that Yitzchak obviously has G-d on his side, comes and makes a treaty with Yitzchak.
There has been a longstanding difference between Yitzchak and his wife, Rivka. Yitzchak displays more affection toward Eisov, hoping that the extra love showered on him will turn him around, while Rivka knows that Eisov is a no-goodnik, whose not coming back so fast and she loves Yaakov more.
As Yitzchak is getting older, he decides that he must bless his children before he dies. Yitzchak decides that he should give the bulk of the blessings to Eisov hoping that success will breed success. But Rivka seeing her son with the deeper understanding that women possess, understands that Eisov will take the powers and use them for the other sides and she sets up a plan to circumvent the situation in a way that Yaakov will get the blessings. (It is interesting to note that both Avraham and his son Yitzchak had a son who was wicked, and each times their wives were the ones who realized how harmful they were, and took the necessary steps to ensure that the good children got whatever they needed.)
Yitzchak calls Eisov and tells him to bring him a good meal so that he can bless him out of appreciation. Rivka sees the opportunity and tells Yaakov to bring her two young kids (the goat kind) and she makes them into a dish she knows her husband loves. She then puts some of the goat skins on Yaakov's smooth hands and neck so that they should feel like Eisov's hairy ones. Yaakov brings the food into his father who asks him who he is. Yaakov, understanding the importance of his getting these blessing, needs to twist the truth a bit, and claims to be Eisov. His father unsure beckons him close to feel him, and feeling the skins thinks it is Eisov, and announces "The hands are the hands of Eisov, but the voice is the voice of Yaakov!" (This hints to the powers of the respective nations. Edom the progeny of Eisov, has their power in their hands, their physical strength, while the Jewish people, the offspring of Yaakov, has their power in their mouths, through prayer and Torah study!) Yitzchak then continues to give Yaakov all the blessings.
Soon after Eisov comes to his father with the meal he prepared for him, but when he arrives it becomes immediately clear that he has been tricked and that the blessing have already been given away. Eisov cries to his father, "have you left me at least one blessing?" Yitzchak tells him that he really gave all the good blessings to Yaakov, but he gives one blessing to Eisov, that his land should be fertile, that he shall live by his sword, and that although he will serve his brother, when his brother does the wrong things, Eisov will throw off his yoke, and dominate his brother.
Eisov furious that his brother stole his blessings begins to plan for the day his father will die so that he can kill his brother. Rivka realizing the danger facing her favored son, sends him off to the land she came from to get away from his murderous brother, and to get married with someone from her family. The parsha ends by telling us hoe Eisov seeing how much his parents dislike the local Canaanite women, marries himself a non-Canaanite woman, the daughter of Yishmael. Of course he keeps the Canaanite women, marrying a different wife was just a PR ploy to get parental approval.
Quote of the Week: A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. – Francis Bacon
Random Fact of the Week: Trees “talk” to one another through an intricate network of fungi in the soil dubbed the “Wood Wide Web”
Funny Line of the week: I went into a clothes store and a lady came up to me and said, "If you need anything, I'm Jill". I've never met anyone with a conditional identity before.
Have a Splendid Shabbos,
R' Leiby Burnham
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